Newswise — NEW YORK and ALBUQUERQUE – May 12, 2022 – Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) and the American Osteopathic Colleges of Ophthalmology & Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AOCOO-HNS) Foundation are pleased to announce a new multi-year partnership designed to provide opportunities for students of osteopathic medicine to gain research experiences in vision science.
Specifically, the partnership will provide joint funding for the RPB / AOCOO-HNS Foundation Medical Student Eye Research Fellowship for a Student of Osteopathic Medicine, which allows gifted students to take a year off from osteopathic medical school and devote time to the pursuit of a research project within an RPB-supported department of ophthalmology (see list at end of document). The award application is now open; nomination forms are due June 15, 2022 and applications are due July 1, 2022.
“We are thrilled to expand the eligibility for our Medical Student Eye Research Fellowship to students of osteopathic medicine, thanks to the partnership with the AOCOO-HNS Foundation,” said Brian F. Hofland, PhD, President of Research to Prevent Blindness. “By providing high quality research experiences for these students, we will broaden the pool of excellent candidates who are applying their talents toward finding cures for sight-threatening diseases.”
In 2022, the RPB / AOCOO-HNS Foundation Medical Student Eye Research Fellowship for Students of Osteopathic Medicine will offer one award to a student of osteopathic medicine focusing on any topic in vision research. The fellowship, which must take place prior to the third or fourth year of osteopathic medical school, will be funded for one year with a $30,000 grant, a portion of which should be utilized to help finance the recipient's eye research activities. After this award cycle, RPB and the AOCOO-HNS Foundation will partner to offer four additional awards (2023-2026).
“The leadership of the College (of AOCOO-HNS) is excited to offer this opportunity to one of our medical students this year and for the next 4 years. It is the College’s hope that these students will choose to enter one of our osteopathic ophthalmology residencies upon completion of their research year,” said Don Morris, DO, President of AOCOO-HNS Foundation. “The College feels the research experience may improve the student’s chance of securing a residency spot, and that the student’s research experience may help improve the residency’s future research opportunities.”
The ophthalmology departments (by state) that are eligible to nominate students for this award are located at the following medical schools:
California
David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles
Stanford University School of Medicine
University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine
University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine
Colorado
University of Colorado School of Medicine
Florida
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Illinois
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine
Indiana
Indiana University
Iowa
University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
Maryland
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Massachusetts
Harvard Medical School
Michigan
The Regents of the University of Michigan School of Medicine
Wayne State University School of Medicine
Missouri
Washington University in Saint Louis School of Medicine
New York
Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry
SUNY Upstate Medical University
Weill Cornell Medical College
New York University Langone Eye Center
North Carolina
Duke University School of Medicine
Ohio
Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of CWRU
Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Oregon
Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine
Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Tennessee
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Texas
Baylor College of Medicine
Utah
University of Utah Health Sciences Center
Washington
University of Washington School of Medicine
Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine & Public Health
For more information on this award, visit the RPB website.
About Research to Prevent Blindness
Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) is the leading nonprofit organization supporting eye research directed at the prevention, treatment or eradication of all diseases that damage and destroy sight. As part of this purview, RPB also supports efforts to grow and sustain a robust and diverse vision research community. Since it was founded in 1960 by Dr. Jules Stein, RPB has awarded more than $393 million in research grants to the most talented vision scientists at the nation’s leading medical schools. As a result, RPB has been associated with nearly every major breakthrough in the understanding and treatment of vision loss in the past 60+ years. Learn more at www.rpbusa.org.
About American Osteopathic Colleges of Ophthalmology & Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation
The American Osteopathic Colleges of Ophthalmology & Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery Foundation supports resident training, education, and research. The Foundation recently entered into an agreement with Research to Prevent Blindness to sponsor an osteopathic medical student. The student will receive a stipend to participate in a research project at a university whose ophthalmology department receives a Research to Prevent Blindness Unrestricted Grant.
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